Drawer with guide system

ABSTRACT

A drawer with a thermoplastic rear wall connected to sides of the drawer, which rear wall has integral friction resistant guide means adapted to slidingly engage a wooden rail of a cabinet to align the drawer as it slides in and out of the cabinet. The thermoplastic rear wall is part of a thermoplastic panel, which panel has indicia to show where the panel is to be properly folded to form a drawer of a specified width and length with a thermoplastic rear wall and two sides joined by integral flexible hinge portions of the thermoplastic panel.

United States Patent Williams 14 1 Mar. 21, 1972 [54] DRAWER WITH GUIDE SYSTEM [72] Inventor: Cole C. Williams, 2408 Allanjay PL, Glendale, Calif. 91208 [22] Filed: Dec. 23, 1968 [21] Appl.No.: 786,032

[52] US. Cl ..3l2/330 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47b 88/00 [58] Field of Search...- ..3 12/330, 273,332, 333,342, 312/337, 345.1, 346; 206/46; 264/295, 339

[5 6] References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 422,315 2/1890 Rishel ..312/332 2,499,299 2/1950 Curran... .312/330 UX 2,860,769 11/1958 Waller.... ..206/46 2,944,295 7/1960 Sloan..' ..264/295 3,030,728 4/1962 Wesman .248/345.1 3,035,880 5/1962 Hitchcock ....312/332 3,112,969 12/1963 Gustafson et al. ....312/ 330 3,312,516 4/1967 Krahn 312/330 3,320,225 5/1967 Bradbury... ....264/295 X 3,365,261 1/1968 Gutner ..3l2/330 X 3,201,187 8/1965 Reissetal ...3l2/346 3,511,550 5/1970 Hilfinger et al ..3l2/330 1 FOREIGN PATENTS OR. APPLICATIONS 804,848 4/1951 Germany 312/330 1,085,624 10/1967 England .31'2/330 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Modern Plastics, April 1966, page 99 Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson Assistant Examiner-George l-l. Krizmanich Attorney-Larry N. Barger Y [57] ABSTRACT A drawer with a thermoplastic rear wall connected to sides of the drawer, which rear wall has integral friction resistant guide 7 1 means adapted to slidingly engage :a wooden rail of a' cabinet to align the drawer as it slidesin and'out of the cabinet. The thermoplastic rear wall is part of a thermoplastic panel, which panel has indicia to show where the panel is to be properly folded to form a drawer of a specified width and length with a thermoplastic rear wall and two sides joined by integral flexible hinge portions of the thermoplastic panel.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures Patented March 21,1972

mm C m P 3/ 4/ TOP/V57 Patented March 21, 1972 3,650,592

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I j k I I N VENTOR.

(045 C Mum/14s 27 W 3/17/41 hmexvsr DRAWER WITH GUIDE SYSTEM This invention relates to a drawer, such as is commonly used in furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc. More particularly, this invention relates to a drawer with a system for guiding the drawer along a linear path as it slides in and out of a cabinet or housing structure.

Drawers often have a guide system to keep them from twisting or cocking in the cabinet structure. These guide systems can take various forms, such as grooves in the sides or bottom area of the drawer, with these grooves sliding along a wooden rail fastened in the cabinet.

In the past, drawers made from wood had a serious problem because the wooden groove structure would sometimes stick and bind to the wooden guide rail, making the drawer hard to move. High humidity could cause the mating wooden rail and groove structure of the drawer to swell or warp sufficiently so the drawer could bind. Nearly everyone has at one time been frustrated by a drawer that stuck shut. When the drawer finally did open after considerably tugging, the drawer came out with such force that its contents were spilled on the floor.

Attempts to overcome this drawer-sticking problem have included waxing the guide rails, and installing metal or plastic inserts in the wooden groove structure to reduce friction. Waxing was not always satisfactory, because the wax would wear off and the drawer could again stick to the cabinet. The metal and plastic inserts, in addition to being costly themselves, usually required special holes to be cut in the drawer to receive them. Some inserts were attached with screws, nails or glue to hold them at a proper location on the drawer. All of these prior devices added substantial labor expense to the construction ofa drawer.

In my invention, I have provided a simple, easily assembled drawer with a reliable friction resistant guide system integral with a thermoplastic rear wall of the drawer, which rear wall is connected to sides of the drawer. As will be explained later, the drawers back and two sides can be injection molded in a single panel of friction-resistant thermoplastic with a guide means, such as a T-shaped notch, integrally formed at a center of the panel. indicia on the panel show the particular locations on opposite sides of the integral guide means for folding the panel to form the back and two sides of the drawer. The guide means being of a friction-resistant thermoplastic, such as polypropylene, does not materially swell or warp with humidity, and since it is integral with the rear. wall it cannot come loose from the rear wall.

Perhaps this invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet or housing within which the drawer slides;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa drawer ready to be inserted into the cabinet;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drawer of FIG. 2 showing the bottom and guide means structure of the drawer;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view ofa panel used to form the back and sides of the drawer;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the panel for forming the back and sides of the drawer, here showing the indicia for pointing out where the drawer panel is to be folded;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the panel ofFlG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a rear wall of the drawer showing a first embodiment of the guide means at its bottom and a second embodiment of the guide means at its top;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the rear wall of the drawer showing a third embodiment of the guide means at its top and a fourth embodiment of the guide means at its bottom;

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view of a drawer with an integral guide means at a bottom of the rear wall; however, here the guide means has also been joined with a friction resistant thermoplastic channel member extending between the rear wall and the front ofthe drawer; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the thermoplastic channel member.

Referring in detail to these drawings, FIG. I shows a typical cabinet structure 1 into which a drawer fits. This cabinet structure is intended to be representative of housings surrounding drawers in such applications as kitchen cabineLs, store fixtures, desks, furniture pieces, etc. The drawer 2 of FIG. 2 is positioned ready to slide into the housing. The drawer is confined to a rectilinear sliding movement in the cabinet by a wooden guide rail 3, which is shown as T-shaped. As best seen in FIG. 3, the drawer has a friction-resistant thermoplastic rear wall 4 with a portion below the drawer bottom 6 defining a T-shaped notch 5 which receives the wooden guide rail 3.

In the past, in wooden drawers the notch structure would often change dimension with humidity and temperature changes, casing the drawer to stick and bind against the wooden guide rail. As previously mentioned, in an effort to overcome this problem, plastic or metal fitments were attached to the grooves to reduce friction. Some of these fitments required a special hole to be cut into the drawer bottom 6 to receive them. Others were secured to the drawer with mechanical fastening means. All of these separate plastic fitments had the disadvantage that they could come loose after continued use of the drawer.

In the present invention there is not problem of the guide means coming loose from the drawer, because the entire rear wall 4 of the drawer is of a friction-resistant then-noplastic. The drawer is formed from a friction-resistant thermoplastic panel 7, as shown in perspective in FIG. 4. The panel includes a bottom supporting structure 8, shown as a groove adjacent its lower edge, and a rigidifying upper flange 9 adjacent its top. There are two vertical flexible hinge portions 10 and 11 spaced apart. They are on opposite sides of the T-shaped notch 5 in the panel. Because the upper flange and the bottom supporting structure along with bottom flange 20 have been at least partially severed at 12 and Band are aligned with flexible hinge portions 10 and 11, the panel can be folded to form the back 4 and two sides 14 and 15 of the drawer. The sides and back are integrally joined together along inner surfaces of the rear corners l6 and 17 of the drawer, and forward sections of the sides are secured to a front 18 of the drawer. The panel 7 itself is described in more detail in my copending U.S. patent application entitled Drawer, filed Dec. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 785,916.

An important feature of the present invention is the integral friction-resistant guide means of the panel and how it provides a drawer structure that is particularly easy to assemble. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the panel 7 as it comes from an injection molding machine with the T-shaped notch already molded in the friction-resistant thermoplastic. The panel also has integral ther moplastic symbols [9 indicating a linear distance in opposite directions from the T-shaped notch 5. Thus, a chart can be provided with the panels to show precisely where to cut the top flange 9, bottom supporting structure 8 and lower flange 20 to form a drawer of a particular width and length. The indicia 19 can also be used to indicate where ends of the panel should be cut to form integral flaps on the panel for joining to a drawer front, as explained in my copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 785,916. Although the indicia 19 has been shown to be near the bottom supporting structure 8, it could be near the upper flange 9 or there could be two scales, one near theupper flange and one near the bottom supporting structure.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show four embodiments of the integral friction-resistant guide means. The FIG. 7 guide means can take the form of a T-shaped notch 21 or 22 at the top or bottom of a thermoplastic rear wall 23. In this figure, the T-shaped notch is shown above the upper edge 24 of the rear wall, but it could be below the upper edge as well. When there is structure 25 above the upper edge of the rear wall defining the T-shaped notch, such structure can also act as a stop by hitting a front wall of the cabinet to stop the drawer before it is completely pulled out of the cabinet structure. In FIG. 8, the integral friction-resistant guide means is in the form of a T-shaped protrusion 26 or 27 which can be at either the transverse upper edge, moplastic guide which does not materially swell or warp in the transverse lower edge, or bth,of athermoplastic rear wall humid weather and which is adapted to slidingly engage a 28. When the rear wall has both upper and lower guide means, horizontal guide rail of a cabinet to align the drawer; a frica single wooden rail, properly grooved, can guide drawers tion-resistant thermoplastic channel member connected to both immediately above and below the till. it it Olltllllil llll i llllllllll lllllillll l lit - r I I l lllllll ll llllllllllglllllll tllitliilil hhpul llilllllllllllllllltilltlllllllliglhlttllltlltglhhtlwunthe protrusion mates would have a corresponding T-shaped rear wall and front of the drawer with one end at the channel groove. member being fitted wrthm said guide means; a flexible ther- FIGS. 9 and show a modification of the integral frictionmoplastic hinge connected with the channel member at the resistant guide means. Here, a friction-resistant thermoplastic 10 other end thereof; and a flap integrally joined to the channel channel member 29 has been fitted to the T-shaped notch 30 member by this hinge on the channel member, said flap being in the all The channel member has an enlargement 31 secured to the drawer front.

' r 2. A drawer as set forfll in claim 1. wherein the rear wall has a z r a n r s e u p p e r e d g e a n d a x r a n s v e rse (he edge. 

1. A drawer comprising: a bottom, a front, two frictionresistant thermoplastic sides and a friction-resistant thermoplastic rear wall with ends and vertical flexible thermoplastic hinges integrally joining these ends of the rear walls to the sides, which rear wall has a portion spaced between the flexible hinges and defining an integral friction-resistant thermoplastic guide which does noT materially swell or warp in humid weather and which is adapted to slidingly engage a horizontal guide rail of a cabinet to align the drawer; a friction-resistant thermoplastic channel member connected to and aligned with the guide, said channel member being spaced between the sides and extending the entire length between the rear wall and front of the drawer with one end of the channel member being fitted within said guide means; a flexible thermoplastic hinge connected with the channel member at the other end thereof; and a flap integrally joined to the channel member by this hinge on the channel member, said flap being secured to the drawer front.
 2. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rear wall has a transverse upper edge and a transverse lower edge, and the integral friction-resistant guide means is adjacent said upper edge.
 3. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rear wall has a transverse upper edge and a transverse lower edge, and the integral friction-resistant guide means is adjacent said lower edge.
 4. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rear wall has a transverse upper edge and a transverse lower edge, and the rear wall has a pair of friction-resistant guide means, one of said guide means being adjacent the rear wall''s upper edge, the other being adjacent the rear wall''s lower edge.
 5. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the integral friction-resistant guide means has a generally T-shaped notch.
 6. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the integral friction-resistant guide means has a generally T-shaped protrusion.
 7. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the friction-resistant guide means of the rear wall has a friction-resistant thermoplastic channel member connected to it, and said channel member is spaced between the sides and extends between the rear wall and front of the drawer.
 8. A drawer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sides and rear wall are polypropylene. 